US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin held an informal talk Sunday at the G20 summit in Turkey after the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris.
“So we’ve been exchanging information. I think it needs to be enhanced,” CIA Director John Brennan said Monday, speaking in Washington. “But I am determined to continue to work with my Russian counterparts, because of the importance that I think we each can bring to this issue, in terms of our insights, our information, our data and sharing.”
Brennan said the threat posed by ISIL demanded increased cooperation. He said conversations with Russian counterparts have focused on the movement of terrorists, especially from southern Russia’s Caucasus region. Russia has long faced terrorism, with several major attacks over the last 15 years.
Greater intelligence sharing would signal a major departure in American policy toward Russia. The US and EU applied harsh economic sanctions against Russia following the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. The ensuing conflict in eastern Ukraine that began in April 2014 has taken the lives of more than 8,000 people and displaced more than 1.4 million people. Russia has denied any direct role in the conflict that has pitted Ukrainian government forces against Russian-backed separatists.
The US has long called for President Bashar Assad's removal, which Moscow, a long-time ally of Assad has opposed.
“Irrespective of disagreements of policy over Syria, I am determined to work with other country services the best I can in order to prevent successful terrorist attacks,” Brennan said, Internatinal Bisiness Times reported.
US officials have been careful in describing cooperation with Russia in Syria, saying a three-minute aircraft exercise at the beginning of November was only a "communications test."
Russian security experts told International Business Times that following the terror attacks in Paris, Putin could use Russia’s role in the Middle East as leverage regarding the disagreements over Ukraine.
“Russia has created a bargaining chip -- we’ll be nice to you in the Middle East if you’ll be nice to us in Ukraine,” said Mark Galeotti, a professor in global affairs at New York University with a specialty in Russian security affairs.